A contemporary anarcho-socialist woman

Reverend and Bible Both Take Bullets

[Rev. Fred] Winters deflected the first of the gunman’s four rounds with a Bible, sending a confetti-like spray of paper into the air in a horrifying scene worshippers initially thought was a skit, police said.

…Winters had stood on an elevated platform to deliver his sermon about finding happiness in the workplace — titled “Come On, Get Happy” — and managed to run halfway down the sanctuary’s side aisle before collapsing after the attack, Cunningham said.

Autopsy results showed that Winters was hit with one bullet that went straight through his heart…

What a tragedy. It appears that the culprit, Terry Joe Sedlacek, may be suffering from mental illness caused by Lyme Disease. No one wins here.

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2 thoughts on “Reverend and Bible Both Take Bullets”

it doesn’t seem that there are many places you can go anymore where you don’t have to fear for your life. subways, nope. churches, nope. maybe flee to the wilderness? nope, you get bitten by an infected tick and come out with lyme’s disease and your nervous system gets destroyed.

and what makes this even more terrifying is the internet. blogs, twitters, text messaging…in Macomb, Illinois, we were informed of the shooting down in Maryville by the beginning of our church service. we hadn’t even gotten to the communion wafers yet. the impact of local events is no longer local.

I guess it also depends on where you’re starting from. I have felt equally safe (or unsafe, depending on if you’re a glass-half-full or half-empty sort) wherever. Location only changes the dangers, in my opinion.

In the Midwestern suburbs crime is hidden, it happened inside of families and churches and isn’t spoken of aloud. Add to that, that anyone who was a minority or deviated from a norm or appeared gay could expect general opprobrium if not violence at any given moment.

In Lawrence, a college town, rapists and public masturbators preyed on young women walking alone or living in homes with old locks. Thieves also regularly took advantage of the old locks. Some frat boys took it upon themselves to harass and attack queers, racial minorities and women.

In Seattle, gang disputes and drive-bys affected my neighborhood. I was followed at night by a strange man whom I had to run from. I was robbed while sleeping at a friend’s house. I had a roommate who turned out to be an unstable drug dealer. Gay bashings occurred in the gayborhood. Fights broke out downtown. A shooter killed several people at a Jewish organization down the street from where I worked.

In Alaska, I was simply afraid of the bears. All the time. For good reason, as you know.